The Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) recognised franchising's best in Western Australia at the 2016 WA Excellence in Franchising Awards night in Perth on Friday 15 July.

FCA CEO Damian Paull, presented the awards and was thrilled to be a part of the successful night and celebrate the achievements in the franchising community.

"These awards are a great way to celebrate all that is positive in franchising, and by sharing these success stories, we can inspire, build confidence and provide support to the franchise community" he said.

Winners at the event included Wayne Lyons and Pauline Walker, who were named Single-Unit Franchisee of the Year with less than 2 Staff, Ryan Willsher from Finn Franchise Brokers who took home the award for WA Single-Unit Franchisee of the Year with two or more staff; Kate Longman of Finn Franchise Brokers for Franchise Woman of the Year and Stewart Bermann, Field Manager of the Year from Aroma Café.

The Paddy Thompson award was presented to Rob and Linda Whitesmith from The Tea and Coffee Merchant for their outstanding contribution and commitment to the sector. In an emotional speech, Rob dedicated the award to his wife, who passed away peacefully in May after a long battle with cancer.

"This is, as you can imagine is bittersweet to me, I'm so grateful- and most of this is for Linda" said Rob.

Rob and Linda's passion for their work was an inspiration to everyone and their legacy continues, as Rob plans to further expand The Tea and Coffee Merchant with his daughter Melissa, now assisting him.

Kate Longman, state winner of the Franchise Woman of the Year award described the potential abundance within the franchising industry, and was very encouraged by the steady increase of women in the industry.
"We are seeing more women, which is really encouraging. The future of franchising is strong; there is a lot of enthusiasm out there for franchising and we see that with people coming through our office- it's really positive that people really have a good opinion on franchising, and that is just getting stronger."

For Wayne Lyons and Pauline Walker, the great work life balance of owning their own business was their motivation and proved that a working relationship is built upon knowing each other's strengths.

"We love being VIP franchisees, it really suits our lifestyle. We both came from business backgrounds and didn't want to work 24-7...Franchising really works for us. We work when we want, and we have time for family and friends."

Winning the Single Unit Franchisee of the Year, Two or more staff award is important recognition to Ryan Willsher, who also acknowledged the support of his colleague Kate Longman.

"It's a sense of accomplishment, it's nice to be recognised and it's great for the brand, to get the support of the franchisee and the franchisors."

He also noted the growing trends emerging from the sector. "There's a great trend happening in franchising, in that it seems to be growing and growing the people in the industry do so much to help it evolve."

Following their success, all winners have qualified as finalists for the MYOB FCA National Excellence in Franchising Awards. The Gala Awards Dinner will be held in Canberra on Tuesday 11 October at the culmination of the 2016 National Franchise Convention.